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Postflight There I Was … Family, friends, and colleagues all know that I have a near-primal need for order and structure in my universe. This personal Prime Directive engenders an intense need for control — not so much control over other people (yes, opinions differ), but rather control over self and life circumstances. I’m in Control Here! This zest for order, structure, and control aligned very nicely with the discipline of flight training. I read, I learned, I practiced, and then practiced still more to make the airplane do what I wanted it to do at any given moment. In an article I wrote for this magazine several years ago, I even compared the principles of airplane control to canine obedience training (“Secrets of the Airplane Whisperer” – FAA Aviation News, July/August 2007). … Except When I’m Not … As we all know, though, life has a way of disrupting the most carefully made plans. And, as the list of “LOC contributing factors” in the #FlySafe campaign shows, a variety of factors can conspire to upset — literally — a pilot’s grasp on airplane control. Even before I qualified as a flight instructor, I always had the nagging feeling that the (many) things I didn’t know about airplane control could bite — and bite hard. SUSAN PARSON Management and Mastery That’s why, in early 2008, I journeyed to the southwestern desert to invest in highly structured upset recovery training. Control freak that I am, I Life has a way of disrupting the most had carefully researched carefully made plans. And, as the list the school I chose to of “LOC contributing factors” in the assure myself of its topnotch instructors, aircraft, #FlySafe campaign shows, a variety of factors can conspire to upset — literally and training techniques. — a pilot’s grasp on airplane control. I’ve since been back several times for refresher training, but I can say unequivocally that the initial three-day training I did was the best aviation investment I’ve ever made. The training program included every kind of stall you can imagine, and I quickly learned why the skidding stall featured in far too many base-to-final LOC accidents merits its reputation for disaster. I learned how to recover from such self-induced upsets. More importantly, though, I learned how to prevent them in the first place. Just as a dog will rarely bite without warning, I found that an airplane generally gives its pilot plenty of “I’m-really-not-happy” signals before it departs controlled flight. Another benefit of specialized training was the ability to experience and repeatedly recover from fully developed spins, both upright and inverted. I had of course practiced spin recovery as part of my flight instructor training program, but I came away from the upset recovery sessions with a lot more knowledge, skill, and confidence in this crucial area. The stall and spin recovery training was terrific, but even better were the lessons on recovering from unusual attitudes, whether pilot-induced (e.g., during those infamous VFR-into-IMC forays) or otherwise-induced (e.g., wake turbulence encounters). When it was time to tackle the wake turbulence part of the syllabus, my instructor in the tandem cockpit airplane very cleverly set me up “on approach” behind a simulated larger aircraft. Even though I knew what he was up to, it was impossible to be fully prepared for the sudden simulated “wake turbulence encounter” that rolled the airplane nearly inverted. Obviously it’s important to avoid such things in real life by strict adherence to wake turbulence avoidance procedures, but — as I said — we all know that real life and real life flying are full of unseen perils. I’m glad I had a chance to learn techniques for quickly restoring order to a wake-disrupted aviation universe. The upset recovery training I took wasn’t cheap. As with many GA training programs, it required a positively painful withdrawal from my checking account. Nevertheless, it was worth every penny and, in pursuit of LOC-proofing myself, I would enthusiastically do it again. Susan Parson (susan.parson@faa.gov, or @avi8rix for Twitter fans) is editor of FAA <strong>Safety</strong> Briefing. She is an active general aviation pilot and flight instructor. 32 FAA <strong>Safety</strong> Briefing March/April 2016
PAUL CIANCIOLO FAA Faces Jeff Guzzetti Manager, FAA Accident Investigation Division “When I was a kid, I always looked up when I heard an airplane,” Jeff explains. “It was, and still is, an all-consuming ‘affliction.’ I have always had an inherent love for aviation and space.” Growing up in the shadow of the Apollo space program can have that effect on a person. Jeff wanted to be an astronaut, but he didn’t have the eyesight needed at the time to become a military pilot. That didn’t stop him from fulfilling the primal need to hop into a cockpit and fly. Jeff enrolled at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University after learning from Time magazine that it was considered “The Harvard of the Skies.” He earned his private pilot certificate, but later wound up switching to aeronautical engineering. His first stint with the FAA was as a student intern at the William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, where he got to set parts of airplanes on fire to conduct research of fireretardant materials. “I developed a morbid fascination with aircraft accidents during these internships,” notes Jeff. “I also flew in different types of helicopters in an effort to characterize the wake turbulence they generate. This study helped further define safe separation standards behind rotorcraft.” After a job as a safety engineer for the Navy, Jeff spent two years working for Cessna Aircraft Company in Wichita assisting FAA and NTSB investigators with identifying key parts of Cessna airplanes at crash sites across the country. After that, he was recruited by the NTSB to be a general aviation (GA) field investigator. During his 17-year hitch with NTSB, Jeff also served as an aerospace engineer for the NTSB “go-team” and worked several major aviation investigations, including the loss-of-control (LOC) accident that killed JFK Jr. His varied experiences led to a promotion as NTSB’s deputy director for regional aviation operations, requiring executivelevel oversight of the investigation, analysis, and probable cause determination of nearly 1,600 GA accidents each year. Following a short time with the DOT Inspector General, Jeff returned to accident investigation work by joining the FAA’s Office of Accident Investigation and Prevention. He leads the division that serves as the FAA’s primary liaison to the NTSB and controls the policies and procedures for all FAA employees who become involved with investigating an accident or incident. It is staffed by a small group of the agency’s most senior investigators who launch with the NTSB “go-team” on major aviation accidents and incidents around the world. During an aircraft accident investigation, the NTSB determines the cause while the FAA implements improvements to prevent future accidents. “I like to think of our office as a powerful and honest broker to facilitate safety improvements in aviation,” Jeff said. “We are not enforcers or rule-makers. Rather, we are independent investigators who get the big picture which we then communicate to those at FAA who are in a position to accelerate a safety action such as an emergency airworthiness directive, a procedural change, or a new safety priority.” The division also reviews all daily GA accidents and incidents that are reported and posts basic data on these events for the public to see at www.asias.faa.gov. Jeff has seen a lot of aircraft accidents, and his advice for pilots to prevent losing control of the aircraft is to have a healthy respect for that aircraft. “The airplane doesn’t care how rich or poor you may be, what job you have, or where you come from,” he notes. “It will respond only to what you are doing at any given moment in the cockpit — and it will kill you and your passengers if you let it. A healthy respect means constantly learning and remembering everything there is to know about the airplane’s operation, including stall speeds for all configurations and situations.” Jeff has taken this advice to heart while advancing his own flying skills in recent years. In addition to his private pilot training, he also earned instrument, glider, and seaplane ratings as well as a commercial pilot certificate. “I have never flown professionally, but I love to fly.”
Page 1 and 2: FAA Safety March/April 2016 BRIEFIN
Page 3 and 4: Jumpseat JOHN DUNCAN DIRECTOR, FLIG
Page 5 and 6: eview the information found in an e
Page 8 and 9: Aeromedical Advisory JAMES FRASER,
Page 10 and 11: SABRINA WOODS Humans and Hardware P
Page 12 and 13: MAY THE SUSAN PARSON BE WITH Using
Page 14 and 15: lift drag thrust weight air tends t
Page 16 and 17: TOM HOFFMANN Going Up? Taking Contr
Page 18 and 19: Ten Common Errors on Takeoff 1. Fai
Page 20 and 21: SABRINA WOODS SURPRISE! Combating t
Page 22 and 23: Photo by James Williams Should you
Page 24 and 25: WILLIAM E. DUBOIS Stupid Runway! Te
Page 26 and 27: the plane’s relationship to the g
Page 28 and 29: Roll of Honor Wright Brothers Maste
Page 30 and 31: Nuts, Bolts, and Electrons SABRINA
Page 32 and 33: Vertically Speaking GENE TRAINOR Co
Page 36: U.S. Department of Transportation F

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